Jinjie, located in Qingpu, Shanghai, is a peaceful ancient city with a history of more than 1,300 years. It was renamed for its intersecting waterways, but mainly for its bridges, not quantities, but for bridges with different shapes and diverse uses, so it has the right to No. 1 Bridge Town. southern Yangtze region. The difference with other water cities is a city with a little more dignity, but less delicacy.
Yingxiang Bridge was originally built in the Yuan Zhiyuan Dynasty period. It was built when the Mongols ruled the area. This is a thin bridge consisting of six pillars and five arches. This is a bridge that now consists of bricks, stones and wood. Ruyi Bridge was built in the Qing Dynasty. This is the best preserved bridge. It is located 50 meters south of the Bridge for animals.
In addition, every bridge in this city will be connected to the temple. He said that during the Three Kingdoms period, the General of the Kingdom of Eastern Wu brought the army here for protection. When the land crossed over the canals and waterways, he ordered his soldiers to build bridges and build temples at one end of each bridge to pray for safety and peace.
This week I had my first walk, a trip to the Shanghai ancient Greek city of Jinjie - one of the local water cities and a landscaped garden with a theme.
Unfortunately, the chosen day turned out to be one of the hottest this month, and therefore with the temperature already at 34 o'clock at 9 o'clock in the morning and with humidity that allows you to feel like 45C, 17 women of all ages and nationalities set off to a rather shaky 24-seat coach, leaving the chaos of the roads of Shanghai.
We arrived at Gardens Gardens by 10.30 and followed our guide, Gianni, on a baking route to the area we visited: a collection of buildings built in the mid-1980s, on the side of Lake Dianshun, which often eats through many channels into the confluence Yangtze River. These houses and their surrounding ponds and gardens illustrate the plot of one of China’s favorite novels, Hou Long Men - The Dream of the Red Mansions (or the Camera in some translations) written in the Qing dynasty (1791) by Cao Xueqin.
In 120 volumes, this massive novel tells a story that is so complex that our guide could only briefly discuss the main character, Pao Yu, and his love interests, Lin Tai Yu and Xue Pao Chai. I'm afraid that I lost the plot early on, so I can't even tell you about the little part that we introduced. I remember that Pau Yu married the wrong girl (Hseuh Pao Chai) on his wedding day, which led to the death of painful but beautiful poetry written by Lin Tai Yu, to which he had actually engaged.
This epic tale is very much loved in China - their "Romeo and Juliet"; - and this was done in films, television series and, for the faint of heart, there are short versions available for reading that are still made by Vikram Seth. A suitable boy looks like a short story!
In 1986, construction began on this themed garden to make the story more tangible, and buildings such as the Grand View Pavilion and Pour Fragrance Court appeared, depicting scenes in the narrative. It is very popular among Chinese and foreign tourists, and even if you are not familiar with this story, the gardens themselves are magnificent. There are extensive ludicrous lilies and lotus flowers, small trees and penings (or penza trees, bonsai lineage) and small forests. bamboo In mid-autumn, the flower of Ottomansus has a sweet and intense smell. In the spring, it is replaced by flowers of peach, plum, magnolia and cherry.
We spent a couple of hours wandering one chapter after another, while Jenny saddened us with brief descriptions of where we were in the chronicle (usually still in the first volume!). All buildings are built according to the architecture of the period (the Qing Dynasty) and furnished with authentic details, with wonderfully intricate patterns in wood and stone.
The initial plan was to have a picnic in the gardens, but it was wisely postponed and after some welcome update to the “cool coach (outdoor temperature is now 37 ° C), we were quickened and ready for the water city of Jinze, 10 minutes away.
In 486, the construction of the Air Force began on the Grand Canal, and in the 13th century it was completed, flying 1,112 miles from Hangzhou (on the Yangtze River) to Beijing (literally, the northern capital). It connected important cities such as Jinan, Nanjing (Southern Capital) and Shanghai (the largest harbor) with the river systems of the Yellow River (Yellow), Huai He and Huang Pu and Beijing itself, transporting goods throughout Imperial China. Today, it still remains the world's largest artificial waterway.
Not far from Shanghai, there are numerous water cities that were built on the banks of these canals, primarily Zhouzhang, Citan, Tongli and Uzhzhen. While these four and others in the distance have become popular tourist attractions, Jingze does not even mention in the guidelines. Easy to see why.
Upon entering the dusty rear streets, there was no sign of commercial profitability; instead, we found life as usual.
Our first meeting was that the lady working at the kiosk was selling bright colored incense wrapped in rolls of paper. It is used for both religious and practical purposes. Buddhists will smoke at the doors of their homes to clean up the environment and, of course, live so close to the water, it is necessary for both Buddhists and non-believers to clean the smells from the drains and the water itself.
Many doors were open to narrow paths that we wandered around, giving us glimpses into rooms outside. Most of them were elderly, and the rooms were very dark. One person we walked with, proudly opened the door to open a room filled with smoke, with 3 or 4 tables where the men were engaged in card games. His actions were met with loud cries of anger — they were probably gambling — and the door was hurriedly removed. He obviously thought it was a hooter, and offered to do it again, but we assured him that it was not necessary!
The channel was busy in places. We saw how loaded barges made their way through the straits and others, where the men were busy with the act of clearing weeds from the edges, with gigantic bamboo sticks.
Bridges were small technical skills, and was wooden, which seemed to be built on the same principles as the "Mathematical Bridge in Queens"; College, Cambridge, with no obvious means of support.
We carried out more shops and kiosks, one selling brooms and brushes from various reeds, another merchandise for funerals, and another with mahjong spreadsheets!
We called it the day at 3 pm - each of us felt hot and dusty - and went back to Shanghai.
